CLEVELAND, Ohio – The news usually moves rather quickly on cleveland.com, and that has been the case on this sunny Monday in Cleveland. Here are some of the stories from the past 12 hours you might have missed, including accusations that Ben Suarez ran an illegal campaign scheme, Lorain County prisoners viewing pirated movies and Ohio at the center of a national measles outbreak.

The 26-page plea agreement presents a detailed description of an illegal scheme to funnel more than $200,000 in campaign contributions to U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci and Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel in 2011 and 2012.

In the plea document, Giorgio accuses Suarez of concocting a criminal plan to enlist Suarez company employees and their wives, plus several Suarez family members, to act as "straw donors" by writing $5,000 campaign contribution checks. The checks were written with the expectation that they would be reimbursed by Suarez's direct-marketing firm, Suarez Corporation Industries, Giorgio said.

"Giorgio had no doubt that Suarez also understood such contributions ... were prohibited and that Suarez thus intended to circumvent the law," the plea agreement reads.| Read James F. McCarty's story

The Lorain County Correctional Institution acknowledged Friday that pirated movies are being shown to prisoners there, even as inmates serve time for illegally downloading movies.

Richard Humphrey, 26, of North Ridgeville was sent to the Lorain County prison in February for a parole violation and remained there until May 6. According to a post on the site torrentfreak.com, while he was a prisoner guards showed inmates "Ride Along" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" before they were released on DVD.

He was on parole for a charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, to which he pleaded guilty in 2010. A year earlier, he pleaded guilty to criminal copyright infringement in federal court for selling downloaded movies before their commercial release.

A spokesperson for Lorain County Correctional Institution Warden Kimberly Clipper said prison officials are aware that pirated movies are being shown to prisoners and the issue is being investigated. But she said she couldn't comment further because the investigation is ongoing. | Read Patrick Cooley's story

Ohio at center of national measles outbreak

An outbreak of measles in the Amish community in central Ohio, which has now infected 83 people, has thrust the state into the national spotlight in a most unwelcome way.File photo

An outbreak of measles in the Amish community in central Ohio, which has now infected 83 people, has thrust the state into the national spotlight in a most unwelcome way: we are now host to the largest measles outbreak in the country since 1996.

Add to that an ongoing mumps outbreak around Ohio State University that has infected more than 350 people, and you may begin to wonder if diseases like these, which are vaccine-preventable and no longer considered a major threat in this country, are winning the fight to make a comeback.

Measles and mumps are highly contagious viral illnesses, transmitted via saliva by cough or sneeze, or through shared objects such as cups and utensils. Mumps typically starts with a few days of fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite, and is followed by swelling of salivary glands. Measles (also called rubeola) causes fever, runny nose, cough and a distinctive rash all over the body.

While most people who contract mumps or measles will recover on their own, some do not fare as well. About one out of 1,000 children with measles gets encephalitis, and one or two out of 1,000 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mumps can also cause serious complications, including encephalitis and meningitis. | Read Brie Zeltner's story

Legendary WMMS DJ Murray Saul passes away

Murray Saul, who officially started the weekend for a generation of Northeast Ohioans with his famed Friday "get down" rants on WMMS, has died at age 86. Here, Saul is pictured in 2008, just before his 80th birthday. (Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer)Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer

Murray Saul's booming voice and get-down spiels helped make WMMS a counter-cultural icon. His whole life seemed like a call to party and, to those in the know, a call to weed.

"He partied with everyone and he smoked pot every day, to the end," says John Gorman, a close friend who worked as program director at WMMS with Saul. "And he said what he thought...he would say anything. There was no filter with him."

Saul will always be remembered for the "Gotta gotta gotta gotta get down" rants that became an exclamation point for the end of the workweek on WMMS. It was born not out of a marketing or branding meeting. But rather, yes, a party.

"He had a party at his place and I heard him yelling "GET DOWN! GET DOWN! GET DOWN!" in that booming voice," says Gorman. "And I walked into the room and he's yelling at these people dancing there – and I thought, 'Man, that sounds cool, I should file that away for some point in the future.'" | Read Michael Heaton's story

Cleveland police officer shoots man on Fleet Avenue

Police cordoned off at least two blocks of Fleet Avenue Monday afternoon after authorities received reports of a man shot.

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.